EP3747658A1 - Système d'impression à jet d'encre et procédé de commande d'un système d'impression à jet d'encre - Google Patents

Système d'impression à jet d'encre et procédé de commande d'un système d'impression à jet d'encre Download PDF

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Publication number
EP3747658A1
EP3747658A1 EP20187957.4A EP20187957A EP3747658A1 EP 3747658 A1 EP3747658 A1 EP 3747658A1 EP 20187957 A EP20187957 A EP 20187957A EP 3747658 A1 EP3747658 A1 EP 3747658A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
ink
printhead
inkjet
nozzles
printing system
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP20187957.4A
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP3747658B1 (fr
Inventor
Hideo Oi
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Funai Electric Co Ltd
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Funai Electric Co Ltd
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
    • B41J2/17566—Ink level or ink residue control
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
    • B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
    • B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
    • B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
    • B41J2/04508—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits aiming at correcting other parameters
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
    • B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
    • B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
    • B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
    • B41J2/0458—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits controlling heads based on heating elements forming bubbles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
    • B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
    • B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
    • B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
    • B41J2/04586—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits controlling heads of a type not covered by groups B41J2/04575 - B41J2/04585, or of an undefined type
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
    • B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
    • B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
    • B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
    • B41J2/04588—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits using a specific waveform
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
    • B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
    • B41J2/17513—Inner structure
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
    • B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
    • B41J2/17526—Electrical contacts to the cartridge
    • B41J2/1753—Details of contacts on the cartridge, e.g. protection of contacts
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
    • B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
    • B41J2/17543—Cartridge presence detection or type identification
    • B41J2/17546—Cartridge presence detection or type identification electronically
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
    • B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
    • B41J2/17553—Outer structure
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/195—Ink jet characterised by ink handling for monitoring ink quality
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
    • B41J2/17566—Ink level or ink residue control
    • B41J2002/17589—Ink level or ink residue control using ink level as input for printer mode selection or for prediction of remaining printing capacity

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to systems and methods for maintaining a consistency of one or more qualities of ink ejected from a printhead associated with an inkjet printer, and in particular relates to systems and methods for adjusting an amount of ejected ink in response to a changed physical property of the ink over time.
  • Inkjet printers eject liquid ink droplets onto a recording medium, such as paper, from a printhead that moves relative to the recording medium and/or vice-versa.
  • a printhead generally comprises one or more fluid ejection chips, each including a semiconductor substrate upon which one or more fluid actuator devices, such as electrical heater elements, are disposed for transferring thermal energy into liquid ink.
  • the liquid ink is heated such that a rapid volumetric change occurs in the ink resulting from a liquid to vapor transition and, consequently, the ink is forcibly ejected from the printhead as an ink droplet onto a recording medium.
  • a printhead typically includes a replaceable and/or replenishable ink reservoir, such as a cartridge, tank, bladder, or other volume for storing liquid ink. Over time, pigment within the ink stored in the reservoir may settle, resulting in varying concentrations of ink in the droplets ejected by the printhead. This results in inconsistent performance of the inkjet printing system.
  • a replaceable and/or replenishable ink reservoir such as a cartridge, tank, bladder, or other volume for storing liquid ink.
  • An object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet printing system and method that exhibits consistent print performance at least in terms of ink droplet concentration.
  • Another object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet printing system and method in which operation of an inkjet printhead is controlled so as to address changes in concentration of ink stored in an ink reservoir that may occur over time.
  • An inkjet printing system comprises: an inkjet printhead comprising a plurality of inkjet nozzles; an ink reservoir connected to deliver ink to the inkjet printhead; a fire count detection system that detects a number of times the inkjet printhead has been activated to eject ink from one or more of the plurality of inkjet nozzles; an ink height calculation system that determines a height of ink remaining in the ink reservoir based on the fire count detected by the fire count detection system; a time period detection system that determines a period of time between a last inkjet printhead activation time and a current inkjet printhead activation time; an ink concentration calculation system that determines a pigment concentration of ink ejected by the inkjet printhead relative to an initial pigment concentration of the ink based on the determined height and the determined period of time; an activation controller configured to generate nozzle activation signals; and a control module operatively connected to receive information from the ink height
  • the activation controller and the control module are contained in a single printer controller.
  • the ink reservoir comprises a lid
  • the ink height calculation system determines the height of ink further based on an initial volume of ink in the ink reservoir, an ink volume per nozzle fire and a surface area of the lid.
  • the ink concentration calculation system determines the relative pigment concentration using the Mason-Weaver Equation.
  • control module determines a firing pattern that results in a dot coverage over a first percentage of a print medium area.
  • the first percentage is 50%.
  • control module determines that the relative pigment concentration is greater than a predetermined amount over 1.0
  • the control module determines a firing pattern that results in a dot coverage over a second percentage of the print medium area, the second percentage being less than the first percentage.
  • the second percentage is 45% or less.
  • control module determines that the relative pigment concentration is less than a predetermined amount below 1.0
  • the control module determines a firing pattern that results in a dot coverage over a third percentage of the print medium area, the third percentage being greater than the first percentage.
  • the third percentage is 55% or greater.
  • a method for controlling an inkjet printing system comprising an inkjet printhead having a plurality of inkjet nozzles and an ink reservoir connected to deliver ink to the inkjet printhead, comprises the steps of: detecting a number of times the inkjet printhead has been activated to eject ink from one or more of the plurality of inkjet nozzles; calculating a height of ink remaining in the ink reservoir based on the detected number of times the inkjet printhead has been activated; determining a period of time between a last inkjet printhead activation time and a current inkjet printhead activation time; calculating a pigment concentration of ink ejected by the inkjet printhead relative to an initial pigment concentration of the ink based on the determined height and the determined period of time; determining, based on the determined height, the determined period of time and the calculated relative pigment concentration, a firing pattern for the inkjet printhead; and generating nozzle activation signals
  • the inkjet printing system according to the present invention can exhibit consistent print performance at least in terms of ink droplet concentration.
  • FIG. 1 is an illustration of an inkjet printhead, generally designated by reference number 10, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the printhead 10 has a housing 12 formed of any suitable material for holding ink. Its shape can vary and often depends upon the external device that carries or contains the printhead.
  • the housing has at least one internal compartment 16 for holding an initial or refillable supply of ink.
  • the compartment has a single chamber and holds a supply of black ink, photo ink, cyan ink, magenta ink or yellow ink.
  • the compartment 16 has multiple chambers and contains multiple supplies of ink.
  • the compartment 16 includes cyan, magenta and yellow ink.
  • the compartment contains plurals of black, photo, cyan, magenta or yellow ink. It will be appreciated, however, that while the compartment 16 is shown as locally integrated within a housing 12 of the printhead, it may alternatively connect to a remote source of ink and receive supply, for example, from a tube.
  • Adhered to one surface 18 of the housing 12 is a portion 19 of a flexible circuit, especially a tape automated bond (TAB) circuit 20.
  • the other portion 21 of the TAB circuit 20 is adhered to another surface 22 of the housing.
  • the two surfaces 18, 22 are perpendicularly arranged to one another about an edge 23 of the housing 12.
  • the TAB circuit 20 supports a plurality of input/output (I/O) connectors 24 for electrically connecting a heater chip 25 to an external device, such as a printer, fax machine, copier, photo-printer, plotter, all-in-one, etc., during use.
  • I/O input/output
  • Pluralities of electrical conductors 26 exist on the TAB circuit 20 to electrically connect and short the I/O connectors 24 to the input terminals (bond pads 28) of the heater chip 25.
  • FIG. 1 shows eight I/O connectors 24, eight electrical conductors 26 and eight bond pads 28, it will be understood that any number and/or configuration of connections may be provided.
  • the heater chip 25 contains a column 34 of a plurality of fluid firing elements that serve to eject ink from compartment 16 during use.
  • the fluid firing elements may embody resistive heater elements formed as thin film layers on a silicon substrate. In embodiments, other types of configurations, such as those with piezoelectric elements, may be used.
  • the pluralities of fluid firing elements in column 34 are shown adjacent an ink via 32 as a row of five dots but in practice may include several hundred or thousand fluid firing elements. As described below, vertically adjacent ones of the fluid firing elements may or may not have a lateral spacing gap or stagger therebetween. In general, the fluid firing elements have vertical pitch spacing comparable to the dots-per-inch resolution of an attendant printer.
  • Some examples include spacing of 1/300 th , 1/600 th , 1/1200 th , 1/2400 th or other of an inch along the longitudinal extent of the via.
  • many processes are known that cut or etch the via 32 through a thickness of the heater chip. Some of the more preferred processes include grit blasting or etching, such as wet, dry, reactive-ion-etching, deep reactive-ion-etching, or other.
  • a nozzle plate (not shown) has orifices thereof aligned with each of the heaters to project the ink during use. The nozzle plate may attach with an adhesive or epoxy or may be fabricated as a thin-film layer.
  • FIG. 2 is an illustration of an external device in the form of an inkjet printer, generally designated by reference number 40, for containing the printhead 10, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the printer 40 includes a carriage 42 having a plurality of slots 44 for containing one or more printheads 10.
  • the carriage 42 reciprocates (in accordance with an output 59 of a controller 57) along a shaft 48 above a print zone 46 by a motive force supplied to a drive belt 50.
  • the reciprocation of the carriage 42 occurs relative to a print medium, such as a sheet of paper 52 that advances in the printer 40 along a paper path from an input tray 54, through the print zone 46, to an output tray 56.
  • Ink drops from compartment 16 are caused to be ejected from the heater chip 25 at such times pursuant to commands of a printer microprocessor or other controller 57.
  • the timing of the ink drop emissions corresponds to a pattern of pixels of the image being printed. Often times, such patterns become generated in devices electrically connected to the controller 57 (via Ext. input) that reside externally to the printer for example, a computer, a scanner, a camera, a visual display unit, and/or a personal data assistant, to name a few.
  • the fluid firing elements (the dots of column 34, FIG. 1 ) are uniquely addressed with a small amount of current to rapidly heat a small volume of ink. This causes the ink to vaporize in a local ink chamber between the heater and the nozzle plate and eject through, and become projected by, the nozzle plate towards the print medium.
  • the fire pulse required to emit such ink drop may embody a single or a split firing pulse and is received at the heater chip on an input terminal (e.g., bond pad 28) from connections between the bond pad 28, the electrical conductors 26, the I/O connectors 24 and controller 57.
  • Internal heater chip wiring conveys the fire pulse from the input terminal to one or many of the fluid firing elements.
  • a control panel 58 having user selection interface 60, also accompanies many printers as an input 62 to the controller 57 to provide additional printer capabilities and robustness.
  • inkjet printhead 10 and inkjet printer 40 described above are exemplary, and that other inkjet printheads and/or inkjet printer configurations may be used with the various embodiments of the present invention.
  • FIG. 3A a schematic diagram of a conventional printhead 70 is shown with a reservoir 72 filled with a volume V 0 of fluid, such as liquid ink.
  • a nozzle 74 is shown as representative of the exit of the collective amount of ink ejected from printhead 70 during operation.
  • the amount of ink illustrated as being ejected from nozzle 74 may be uniformly or non-uniformly distributed across any number of nozzles associated with a printhead.
  • the concentration C 0 of the ink at time interval T 0 is substantially uniform so that multiple droplets of ink D 0 ejected from printhead 70 at time interval T 0 carry a substantially similar mass of pigment M 0 such that each droplet D 0 has a similar appearance when ejected onto a recording medium such as paper.
  • time interval T 0 may be associated with an initial state of the printhead 70, for example, immediately following installation or filling of reservoir 72.
  • FIG. 3B a time-shifted schematic diagram of printhead 70 is shown at a later time interval T 1 , with the volume V 1 of ink disposed within reservoir 72 having been subjected to the effects of gravity so that one or more layers of sediment, such as layers S 1 and S 2 as shown, settle to the bottom of reservoir 72.
  • the layers of sediment S 1 , S 2 may include one or more relatively massive components of the ink, e.g., dyes and/or pigments, as compared to aqueous components L of the ink that may include, for example, water and/or other solutions.
  • layer of sediment S 1 includes components of the ink that are more massive than the components of the ink that are disposed in layer of sediment S 2 .
  • any number of layers of sediment may settle from an ink, and may include solid and/or liquid components in any combination or separation.
  • reservoir 72 contains a volume of ink having a non-uniform density such that the aqueous portion L of the ink has a concentration of pigment C 3 (calculated as M 3 /V 3 ), second layer of sediment S 2 (calculated as M 2 /V 2 ) has a concentration of pigment C 2 that is greater than C 3 , and the layer of sediment S 1 has a concentration of pigment C 1 (calculated as M 1 /V 1 ) that is greater than C 2 .
  • a droplet of ink D 1 ejected at a first time interval T 1 may include a substantial amount of the components of the layer of sediment S 1 so that droplet of ink D 1 carries an amount of pigment such that the droplet of ink D 1 has a pigment concentration similar to C 1 . Accordingly, the droplet of ink D 1 may have a relatively dark and/or saturated appearance as compared to droplet D 0 ( FIG. 3A ) when ejected onto a recording medium such as paper.
  • the reservoir 72 of printhead 70 is shown at a time interval T 2 that is greater than time interval T 1 such that most or all of the layer of sediment S 1 has been ejected from the printhead 70 via droplets of ink D 1 ( FIG. 3B ). Accordingly, further operation of the printhead 70 from time interval T 2 onward results in droplets of ink D 2 that are primarily composed of components from the layer of sediment S 2 due to the proximity of the layer of sediment S 2 to the nozzle 74.
  • a droplet of ink D 2 ejected at time interval T 2 carries an amount of pigment such that droplet D 2 has a pigment concentration similar to the concentration C 2 of layer of sediment S 2 .
  • droplets of ink D 2 may have a relatively dark appearance upon ejection onto a recording medium, though lighter than the appearance of droplets of ink D 1 ( FIG. 3B ).
  • the reservoir 72 of printhead 70 is shown at a time interval T 3 that is greater than time interval T 2 such that most or all of the layer of sediment S 2 has been ejected from the printhead 70 via droplets of ink D 2 . Accordingly, further operation of the printhead 70 from time interval T 3 onward results in droplets of ink D 3 that are substantially devoid of components from layers of sediment S 1 , S 2 .
  • droplets of ink D 3 are primarily composed of components from the aqueous component L of the ink. Accordingly, droplets of ink D 3 may have a substantially lighter appearance than droplets of ink D 1 and D 2 when ejected onto a recording medium such as paper.
  • a concentration of pigment in ink droplets ejected from a printhead has a general dependency upon the length of time a volume of ink has been present within an ink reservoir.
  • other factors such as frequency of use, rate of fluid ejection, and/or intervening maintenance operations of an inkjet printing system, to name a few, may effect the concentration of pigment in ink droplets of an inkjet printhead.
  • the present invention is directed to an inkjet printhead and method of use that selectively controls which heaters to fire in order to account for pigment settling over time so as to maintain a consistent visual quality of the ejected ink over the course of the operating life of the printhead.
  • FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling operation of an inkjet printhead according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The various steps of the method are carried out automatically by the various components of an inkjet printing system.
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an inkjet printing system, generally designated by reference number 500, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the inkjet printing system 500 includes an inkjet printhead 510 having a plurality of inkjet nozzles, an ink reservoir 520 connected to deliver ink to the inkjet printhead, a fire count detection system 530 that detects a number of times the inkjet printhead has been activated to eject ink from one or more of the plurality of inkjet nozzles, an ink height calculation system 540 that determines a height of ink remaining in the ink reservoir based on the fire count detected by the fire count detection system, a time period detection system 550 that determines a period of time between a last inkjet printhead activation time and a current inkjet printhead activation time, an ink concentration calculation system 560 that determines a pigment concentration of ink ejected by the inkjet printhead relative to an initial pigment concentration of the ink based on the determined height and the determined period of time, an activation controller 570 configured to generate nozzle activation signals, and a control module 580 operatively connected to receive
  • step S02 the operation starts and proceeds to step S04, where the current fire count is detected.
  • detection may be achieved by tracking and storing the fire count locally on the heater chip 25 of the printhead.
  • fire count refers to the number of times the printhead has been fired so as to eject drops of ink onto a print medium.
  • the volume of ink may then be determined by multiplying the newly determined ink height with the cartridge lid area.
  • step S08 the time since last jetting of the printhead is determined by comparing the current date with the last jetting date.
  • the time is preferably measured in weeks, although other units of time may be tracked and measured.
  • step S10 the concentration of ink within droplets ejected from the printhead are determined based on the ink volume calculated in step S06 and the time determined in step S08.
  • concentration of ink may be calculated using the Mason-Weaver equation as follows: [Math.
  • ⁇ n ⁇ t A ⁇ 2 n ⁇ y 2 ⁇ B ⁇ n ⁇ y [Math. 4]
  • step S12 ink concentration experience data is used to determine the firing pattern.
  • FIG. 6 is a graphical representation of ink concentration experience data including the relative concentration of pigment in ejected droplets of ink (measured relative to an initial, substantially uniform concentration of the ink at an initial time t 0 ) as a function of the level of a volume of ink in the printhead (measured in cm) and time (measured in weeks).
  • the relative pigment concentration of ejected droplets of ink may have a non-linear relationship with the amount of ink in the reservoir of the printhead, i.e., the relative concentration of pigment in ejected ink droplets may increase at a non-constant rate as ink is depleted from the reservoir of the printhead.
  • the empirical data represented in FIG. 6 illustrates that the relative pigment concentration of droplets of ink ejected from a printhead may be bound by a lower practical limit and/or an upper practical limit.
  • a lower practical limit may correspond to a relative pigment concentration of ejected ink that is too low for the ejected ink to be visible on a recording medium, for example, a relative pigment concentration of ink at a level of about one third the initial concentration of the ink, as shown.
  • an upper practical limit may correspond to a relative pigment concentration of ink that is too high for the ink to be properly ejected from the printhead, for example, a condition in which the ink is too viscous to properly flow through and/or from a printhead.
  • Fire pulses may be sent to the printhead based on the ink concentration experience data.
  • the printhead under the condition in which the relative pigment concentration is or close to 1.0 (i.e., the pigment concentration is or close to the initial pigment concentration), the printhead may be controlled to operate normally. If the relative pigment concentration falls to a particular level below 1.0, the printhead may be controlled to eject more drops than normal to account for the lighter drop quality, with more drops being ejected as the concentration falls. If the relative pigment concentration rises to a particular level above 1.0, the printhead may be controlled to eject less drops than normal to account for the darker drop quality, with less drops being ejected as the concentration rises.
  • Fluid ejection chip 100 for use with a printhead, for example, printhead 10 ( FIG. 1 ), printhead 70 ( FIG. 3A ) or printhead 510 ( FIG. 4 )is illustrated.
  • Fluid ejection chip 100 includes a centrally-disposed ink via 102 for locally storing ink.
  • ink via 102 may be in fluid communication with a source of ink, such as a reservoir within a printhead or a remote source of ink such as an ink tank.
  • nozzles are arranged in columns L, R on opposing sides of ink via 102.
  • Nozzles may be formed through a nozzle plate at positions corresponding to a fluid ejection actuator positioned beneath the plate (not shown).
  • the fluid ejection actuators may be in fluid communication with ink from via 102 so that ink droplets can be ejected through nozzles onto a recording medium such as paper.
  • fluid ejection chip 100 includes eight nozzles in each of columns L, R (labeled L 1 - L 8 , and R 1 - R 8 , respectively). It will be understood that in embodiments, a fluid ejection chip may include a greater number of nozzles, for example, hundreds or thousands of nozzles, which may have any desirable arrangement.
  • Each of the vertically-adjacent nozzles shown may be separated a uniform distance from one another, for example, 1/600 th of an inch, with the columns L and R of nozzles being vertically offset from one another a distance of about half the uniform distance, for example, 1/1200 th of an inch. It will be understood that the relative spacing of the nozzles at least partially controls a pattern along which ink droplets ejected from fluid ejection chip 100 may fall onto a recording medium such that a print resolution, i.e., an amount of ejected ink present per unit area on the recording medium, is defined.
  • FIG. 8A a schematic diagram of the placement of ink droplets ejected from fluid ejection chip 100 are shown against a 1/1200 th inch grid.
  • FIG. 8A represents a portion of a single pass of a printhead carrying fluid ejection chip 100 across the Reciprocating Direction.
  • the movement in the Reciprocating Direction is coordinated with movement of a recording medium such as a sheet of paper along the Advance Direction so that line-by-line printing onto the recording medium is possible.
  • a printhead may make more than one pass along a single line, i.e., a printhead may make more than one pass across the Reciprocating Direction before the recording medium moves along the Advance Direction.
  • nozzles L 1 - L 8 and R 1 - R 8 may eject droplets of ink 114 L , 114 R onto a recording medium during a pass of a printhead.
  • selective ejection of ink droplets from a printhead can be accomplished by the transmission of one or more electrical signals, e.g., fire pulses, to the fluid ejection actuators of a fluid ejection chip.
  • the controller of the inkjet printing system under automatic and/or manual control, for example, a default or manually selected print setting, may send a combination of fire pulses to a selected group of fluid ejection actuators in a process called addressing.
  • multiple series of fire pulses may be transmitted to a selected group of fluid ejection actuators during a single pass of a printhead. Such fire pulses may cause a fluid ejection actuator to fire more than once during a single pass of the printhead.
  • a controller of an inkjet printing system may cause a series of fire pulses to change during or between passes of a printhead, as described further herein.
  • droplets of ink 114 L are ejected through nozzles L 1 and L 3 in a first series of fire pulses, followed by the ejection of droplets of ink 114 L through nozzles L 2 and L 4 in a second, subsequent series of fire pulses.
  • the controller of the inkjet printing sends the first series of fire pulses and the second series of fire pulses in an alternating fashion with each advance of the printhead by 1/1200 th of an inch in the Reciprocating Direction.
  • droplets of ink 114 R are ejected through nozzles R 1 and R 3 in a first series of fire pulses, followed by the ejection of droplets of ink 114 R through nozzles R 2 and R 4 in a second, subsequent series of fire pulses.
  • the controller of the inkjet printing sends the first series of fire pulses and the second series of fire pulses in an alternating fashion with each advance of the printhead by 1/1200 th of an inch in the Reciprocating Direction.
  • Such an ejection pattern of ink droplets may be consistent with a condition in which a printhead includes a reservoir of ink having a substantially uniform pigment concentration so that the ejects droplets of ink have a pigment concentration that is substantially equivalent to the pigment concentration of the ink at time T 0 .
  • Such a configuration affords flexibility in changing the ink droplet ejection pattern in response to changing conditions within or without the printhead, as described further herein.
  • FIG. 8B a schematic diagram of an ink droplet ejection pattern is shown according to an alternative series of fire pulses provided to fluid ejection chip 100 in a condition in which ink stored in a reservoir of a printhead has become subject to the effects of settling, e.g., so that more massive components of the ink separate and fall under the effects of gravity to form concentrated regions of pigment near the nozzles of the printhead.
  • Such a condition may be similar to printhead 70 at time intervals T 1 or T 2 ( FIGS. 3B and 3C above). It would be desirable to adjust the amount of ink ejected from the printhead in response to the changed pigment concentration of the ejection ink.
  • a controller of an inkjet printing system may send a series of fire pulses to the printhead to cause a fewer number of fluid ejection actuators to fire.
  • droplets of ink 114 L are ejected through nozzles L 1 and L 3 in a first series of fire pulses, followed by the ejection of droplets of ink 114 L through nozzles L 2 and L 4 in a second, subsequent series of fire pulses.
  • droplets of ink 114 R are ejected through nozzles R 1 and R 3 in a first series of fire pulses, followed by the ejection of droplets of ink 114 R through nozzles R 2 and R 4 in a second, subsequent series of fire pulses.
  • the second series of fire pulses follows the first series of fire pulses for each of the columns L, R of nozzles ( FIG. 7 ) after the printhead has advanced 1/1200 th of an inch in the Reciprocating Direction as above, the respective first series of fire pulses do not repeat again until after the printhead has advanced 1/3400 th of an inch in the Reciprocating Direction. Accordingly, approximately half the number of ink droplets are ejected from the printhead in this configuration as compared to the number of ink droplets ejected from the printhead in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 above. Such a configuration may be desirable for ink having a relatively high pigment concentration, for example, to avoid using unnecessary amounts of pigment, to maintain a consistent visual quality of ejected ink, and or to extend the operating life of a given reservoir of ink.
  • FIG. 8C a schematic diagram of an ink droplet ejection pattern is shown according to an alternative series of fire pulses provided to fluid ejection chip 100 in a condition in which ink within the reservoir of a printhead has a lowered concentration of pigment as compared to its initial condition.
  • a condition may be similar to printhead 70 at time interval T 3 above ( FIG. 3D ).
  • droplets of ink 114 L are ejected through nozzles L 1 , L 2 , L 3 and L 4 in a single series of fire pulses that repeats when the printhead has advanced 1/1200 th of an inch in the Reciprocating Direction.
  • droplets of ink 114 R are ejected through nozzles R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 in a single series of fire pulses that repeats when the printhead has advanced 1/1200 th of an inch in the Reciprocating Direction.
  • ink droplets are ejected from the printhead in this configuration as compared to the number of ink droplets ejected from the printhead in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8A above.
  • Such a configuration may be desirable for ink having a relatively lower pigment concentration, for example, to ensure that a sufficient amount of pigment is ejected onto the recording medium and/or to maintain a consistent visual quality of ejected ink.
  • any number and/or combination of fire pulses may be provided to effect an ink ejection pattern suitable to counteract the effects of pigment settling in the ink stored in the printhead.
  • the printhead may be controlled so that ink is ejected in two or more passes across the print medium, resulting in appropriate dot coverage to counter the effects of ink settling.
  • the first pass results in the dot coverage shown in FIG. 8A , with subsequent passes with firing of nozzles as necessary to provide the initial coverage with additional dot coverage.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Quality & Reliability (AREA)
  • Ink Jet (AREA)
  • Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)
EP20187957.4A 2015-01-29 2015-11-18 Système d'impression à jet d'encre et procédé de commande d'un système d'impression à jet d'encre Active EP3747658B1 (fr)

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US14/608,882 US9168737B1 (en) 2015-01-29 2015-01-29 System and method for ejecting adjustable amounts of ink
PCT/JP2015/005757 WO2016120923A1 (fr) 2015-01-29 2015-11-18 Système d'impression à jet d'encre et procédé permettant de commander un système d'impression à jet d'encre
EP15879824.9A EP3250384B1 (fr) 2015-01-29 2015-11-18 Système d'impression à jet d'encre et procédé permettant de commander un système d'impression à jet d'encre

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EP20187957.4A Active EP3747658B1 (fr) 2015-01-29 2015-11-18 Système d'impression à jet d'encre et procédé de commande d'un système d'impression à jet d'encre

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EP4054850A4 (fr) 2018-12-04 2023-07-19 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Activation de cartouche d'encre
KR20210109088A (ko) * 2020-02-26 2021-09-06 삼성디스플레이 주식회사 잉크젯 프린팅 장치, 쌍극성 소자의 프린팅 방법 및 표시 장치의 제조 방법
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US20160221351A1 (en) 2016-08-04
JP6547834B2 (ja) 2019-07-24
EP3250384A1 (fr) 2017-12-06
US9555640B2 (en) 2017-01-31
EP3250384A4 (fr) 2018-09-26
EP3747658B1 (fr) 2023-01-04
CN107206799B (zh) 2019-03-29
WO2016120923A1 (fr) 2016-08-04
CN107206799A (zh) 2017-09-26
US20170096013A1 (en) 2017-04-06
JP2018503540A (ja) 2018-02-08
EP3250384B1 (fr) 2020-08-19
CN109927420A (zh) 2019-06-25
CN109927420B (zh) 2021-01-29
US9815294B2 (en) 2017-11-14
US9168737B1 (en) 2015-10-27

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